New diet to beat diabetes: Fresh fruit cuts risk by a quarter

EATING more fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice could be the key to beating diabetes.

Including more fresh fruit in your diet could slash the risk of diabetes (PIC POSED BY MODEL)

Just a few portions a week can slash the risk of developing the condition by more than a quarter, experts have found.

Blueberries provide the most effective protection, followed by grapes or raisins, prunes, then apples and pears.

Other fruit such as bananas, plums, peaches and apricots had a negligible impact. But drinking fruit juice actually increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes by at least eight per cent.

Researchers believe this is because the juicing process reduces the level of beneficial ­nutrients in the fruit. And the juice also passes through the stomach more quickly.

This leads to bigger and more rapid changes in the levels of glucose and insulin found in the body. Writing in the British Medical Journal, the researchers, including a team from Harvard School of Public Health in the US, conclude: “Greater consumption of specific whole fruits, particularly blue­berries, grapes and apples, is significantly associated with a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, whereas greater consumption of fruit juice is associated with a higher risk.”

They found that people who ate three standard servings – around three ounces (80g)– of blueberries a week had a 26 per cent lower chance of developing the condition.

Those eating grapes and raisins had a 12 per cent reduced risk and apples and pears cut the chances by seven per cent. Prunes also had a protective effect, giving an 11 per cent drop in risk. People who replaced all fruit juice with whole fruits could expect a seven per cent reduction. For individual fruits, replacing three servings a week of fruit juice with blueberries cut the risk by 33 per cent while replacing juice with grapes and raisins cut it by 19 per cent.

The risk was also 14 per cent lower if juice was replaced with apples and pears and 12 per cent lower if replaced with grapefruit.

Three portion of blueberries a week cut the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 26 per cent

The best way to reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes is to eat a balanced, healthy diet

Dr Matthew Hobbs, head of research for Diabetes UK

The research included data on 187,382 people taken from three ­separate studies, of whom 12,198 developed Type 2 diabetes.

Complications of the disease, which is linked to obesity and an inactive lifestyle, include limb amp­utation, blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke. Professor Anthony Barnett, emeritus professor of medicine at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, said: “This study adds support to the view that consumption of a balanced diet which includes fruit and vegetables has clear health benefits, including reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes.

“It is interesting that ‘protection’ against Type 2 diabetes is associated with whole fruit consumption but such protection is lost with fruit juices. It is important to recognise that fruit juices generally have a high ­glycaemic index, which means that fruit sugars are presented rapidly and in high quantity to the body.

“In susceptible individuals, particularly people who are overweight and take little exercise, there is an inability to deal with this acute sugar load and this may predispose them to development of Type 2 diabetes. While whole fruits and vegetables appear to be very good for us, fruit juices may not provide similar benefits and might even increase health risks.”

Dr Matthew Hobbs, head of research for Diabetes UK, said: “The best way to reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes is to eat a balanced, healthy diet that includes a variety of fruit and vegetables and to be as physically active as possible.

“This research provides further evidence that eating plenty of whole fruit is a key part of the balanced diet that will help you to achieve a healthy weight and so minimise your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.”